The Cultural Movement: As Mapped

GrayTiger · Post by **GrayTiger** » Fri Jun 02, 2006 9:59 pm

Liam Neeson. To date, this guy has played Batman's foe, a murdered Jedi... and Aslan, King of Narnia and all the world.

He also played the role of a dark vilgilate...The Darkman.

Anthony Lion · Post by **Anthony Lion** » Sat Jun 03, 2006 6:21 am

LoneWolf23k wrote:Ok, I give up. Go ahead and adore your "West-man", Tony. I'll stick to the real Batman, thank you very much.

I intend to, Wolfy, I intend to...

BTW: My name is Anthony, not Tony. I'm NOT a pussyfooted tiger...
(It's actually a slight 'Englishification' of what is written on my birth-certificate, so PLEASE don't mess with it.)

RHJunior · Post by **RHJunior** » Sat Jun 03, 2006 7:30 am

You know you're a ninja when you can disappear into the shadows in a crowded room.

You know you're LORD HIGH KING NINJA when you can disappear your CAR into the shadows in a crowded FREEWAY.

Shyal_malkes · Post by **Shyal_malkes** » Sat Jun 03, 2006 9:35 am

ninja, or stage magician?

I say you can tell you are a ninja when you can dissappear in a crowded room without a shadow in site. despite the horriffic scene that everyone knows someone caused, but nobody knows who...

and when you can make your car dissappear down the freeway under satalite survalence.

a LORD HIGH KING NINJA makes the local wendy's (plumbing and all) disappear without a trace during the lunch rush.

Nikas_Zekeval · Post by **Nikas_Zekeval** » Sat Jun 03, 2006 3:18 pm

You know you are a ninja when you can slit a man's throat in a crowded room and no one else notices you did it.

You are the LORD HIGH KING NINJA if you can do it so that even the guy who got his throat slit didn't notice it till after the fact.

EdBecerra · Post by **EdBecerra** » Sat Jun 03, 2006 6:20 pm

Madmoonie wrote:Actually I am pretty the guns are a modern addition.

Nope, sorry. When Bob Kane created Batman, he armed him with guns. It wasn't until some issues later that he took the guns away, and eventually decided that Bruce would have a (small) hangup about guns thanks to the death of his parents.

Mr. Kane said this himself, in several different interviews.

To quote from Wikipedia (yeah, I know it's not the most accurate source):

"Various retellings of the night Bruce Wayne's parents are murdered have depicted them as having just seen a "Zorro" movie, and, as far as The Shadow is concerned, Batman's creators specifically took care to distinguish their hero from the well-known crimefighter, taking away his gun early in his comic book adventures, and eventually giving Batman an anti-gun stance."

Note that last - "taking away his gun". You can't "take" away a gun if the person doesn't HAVE a gun to begin with.

LoneWolf23k · Post by **LoneWolf23k** » Sat Jun 03, 2006 7:24 pm

Nikas_Zekeval wrote:You know you are a ninja when you can slit a man's throat in a crowded room and no one else notices you did it.

You are the LORD HIGH KING NINJA if you can do it so that even the guy who got his throat slit didn't notice it till after the fact.

Sin City's Miko is the Lady High Queen Goddess of All Ninja.. She can stab people through with her sword and they won't even notice it until she twists the blade...

But that's a whole 'nother series altogether.

Madmoonie · Post by **Madmoonie** » Sat Jun 03, 2006 8:37 pm

EdBecerra wrote:
Madmoonie wrote:Actually I am pretty the guns are a modern addition.
Nope, sorry. When Bob Kane created Batman, he armed him with guns. It wasn't until some issues later that he took the guns away, and eventually decided that Bruce would have a (small) hangup about guns thanks to the death of his parents.

Mr. Kane said this himself, in several different interviews.

To quote from Wikipedia (yeah, I know it's not the most accurate source):

"Various retellings of the night Bruce Wayne's parents are murdered have depicted them as having just seen a "Zorro" movie, and, as far as The Shadow is concerned, Batman's creators specifically took care to distinguish their hero from the well-known crimefighter, taking away his gun early in his comic book adventures, and eventually giving Batman an anti-gun stance."

Note that last - "taking away his gun". You can't "take" away a gun if the person doesn't HAVE a gun to begin with.

I was refering to the duel-welddling Shadow as portrayed Alec Baldwin.

EdBecerra · Post by **EdBecerra** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 12:01 am

Madmoonie wrote:I was refering to the duel-welddling Shadow as portrayed Alec Baldwin.

The Shadow had guns from the beginning as well. Twin .45's.

Nick012000 · Post by **Nick012000** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 1:48 am

The irony of Batman's anti-crime vigilanteism?

He eventually winds up marrying a reformed criminal.

Seriously. He marries Catwoman, after she gives up crime.

Rangers · Post by **Rangers** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 5:17 am

It's a little off topic, but as far as old TV series being made into movies, I'm waiting for the movie version of Hogan's Heroes. But only because I want to play Sgt. Schultz!

Only problem is, I'm not Jewish - that might be a dealbreaker. John Banner was, you see.

Nullcast · Post by **Nullcast** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 8:23 am

Squeaky Bunny wrote:I see several books being converted to screen. A spell for Chamelion, Enders game, Second Foundation, Horton hears a Who, ad nauseum.

What really sucks is remakes. There is no shortage of writers or talent, just intelligence in the boardrooms.

Someday there will be a decent Heinlein movie.

Okay "A Spell for Chameleon" would totally rock!

Also as for Batman begins, I love the whole snarky thing with Lucius Fox.
"You know how it is. You're at a party, having a good time, when some slips an experimental hallucinogen in your drink."

UncleMonty · Post by **UncleMonty** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 2:03 pm

Hollywood seems to me to have lost whatever creativity it ever had. Movies are completely formulaic, as though created by a robot programmed with box-office numbers from previous movies.
When a movie includes a powerful and wealthy corporate type - he's the bad guy.
A Christian preacher of priest? Bad.
Any non-Christian leader, even a known murderor? Good.
A weird guy in a creepy old house? Good.
A prostitute? Good .
A movie star? Good.
A heroic soldier? Bad guy or duped fool.
A self-proclaimed witch? Good.
A self-destructive drug addict? Good.
Successful, hard-working, well-educated people? Sheep.
A liar? Smart
An honest person? Mentally deficient.

The deeper problem is, while these "turn-about" plot twists were created to surprise the movie-viewing public, a large portion of the public seems to have accepted them as normal, and would perceive a "straight" plot as a twisted one.

Nikas_Zekeval · Post by **Nikas_Zekeval** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 4:32 am

It usually takes a lot of money to get a movie made in Hollywood, and being businessmen (dispite the product routinly ripping such) the producers want to get their money back.

So ISTM a lot of 'group think' goes on in the board rooms, it's not about what might be a big hit, it's what already has an audience, so you get sequals, remakes, retreads (things like movies made of TV series the producer is nostalgic about, forgetting how mediocre it looks now) and Opra book club to movie deals. The sad thing is in betting on the 'safe' thing they have palpatised and cliched their product that the audiences are not comming anymore.

Nullcast · Post by **Nullcast** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 6:56 am

And what audiences do come have to slog through a half-hour of commercials!

StrangeWulf13 · Post by **StrangeWulf13** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 12:42 pm

Hey, Anthony! I got something for ya!

http://www.pvponline.com/ep4.php3

Just hang around for the third actor... trust me, it's worth it...

Anthony Lion · Post by **Anthony Lion** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 2:25 am

I'll check that link as soon as I get home...
(Not a good idea to enable the sound on my PC at the office...)

Anyway, about bad remakes...

Anyone seen the Xeroxwood film 'Taxi'?
Liked it?
Seen the Original series of films?
They're French, but trust me, THEY were good...

Seen the Xeroxwood production of The Pink Panther?
Can someone please shoot the idiot who thought it was a good idea?

Now, what was the name of that Submarine movie?
The one where they captured an Enigma chiffermachine in?
Why was that so close to real-world facts(an Enigma machine WAS captured from a German sub, but it was done by the Brits), but still so wrong?

Or what about my favorite:
Operation Swallow: The Battle for Heavy Water
and the Xeroxwood production The Heroes of Telemark

As one commentator wrote about the Xeroxwood production:

'The Heroes of Telemark' tells the true story of how a group of men from the Norwegian resistance, managed to halt a German attempt to produce heavy-water at a hydro-electricity plant in Telemark, Norway. Earlier attempts by British elite troops had failed, and in an attempt by the US Airforce to bomb the plant, they hit a nearby village killing several local inhabitants. The film is in many ways removed from reality. It portrays the event in true Hollywood style, with stout and brave resistance men versus scar-faced villainous Germans and of course the obligatory spectacular pyrotechnics. In the real event, not a single German soldier was killed, in fact, not a single shot was fired.

Of course, it helped that in the French/Norwegian original film, 3 out of the 4 saboteurs was played by the original team...